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<\/p>\nTelecom gearmaker Nokia will boost its manufacturing capacity in India by 1.5x over the next few years to support the 5G services roll-out, said Tarun Chhabra, the company’s country head of mobile networks business.<\/p>\n
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Nokia is supplying network equipment to Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio for their 5G networks from its plant in Chennai.<\/p>\n
Vodafone Idea is yet to finalise its contract as it awaits fresh funding.<\/p>\n
“We have been preparing ourselves for 5G deployment in India for more than a year — whether it is upskilling our people, increasing production, or hiring the right talent.<\/p>\n
“With a huge demand for equipment coming up from India, we will need to ramp up manufacturing to meet this requirement.<\/p>\n
“We could be looking at an enhanced production capacity of 1.5x in the next few years,” Chhabra said on the sidelines of the India Mobile Congress.<\/p>\n
“We have invested over Rs 600 crore to manufacture telecom products worth Rs 3,500 crore annually, with over 50 per cent for export,” Chhabra said.<\/p>\n
Work on expanding the manufacturing facility in Chennai is already underway and more production lines will be added to the plant.<\/p>\n
Ramp-up is expected from the first quarter of CY23 and will gradually increase it to 1.5x times of the current level, based on requirements.<\/p>\n
Bharti Airtel has already started 5G services in eight cities and aims to expand the coverage across India by March 2024.<\/p>\n
Reliance Jio will begin its roll-out in metros by Diwali and will extend the network to the entire country by December 2023.<\/p>\n
5G rollout in the country is expected to be among the fastest in the world with affordable tariffs and the desire among people to embrace the new technology.<\/p>\n
India is expected to have over 300 million 5G subscribers by the end of 2026.<\/p>\n
The Covid pandemic has also accelerated the use of automation at Nokia, making site integration and software upgrades quicker than usual.<\/p>\n
While installation of sites happens on location, they are being integrated into the network remotely through a central location bringing saving time and cost.<\/p>\n
“Our focus is on automation of services to be more efficient,” Chhabra said.<\/p>\n